Wherefore Art Thou, John Connor
by River2027
Summary: John is forced to enter his school’s production of Romeo and Juliet. To his dismay, Cameron spontaneously enrolls in John’s school under the alias Cameron Phillips and is understudy for the role of Juliet, who is being played by Riley. John/Cameron
1. What's In a Name?

**Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles**

title: Wherefore Art Thou, John Connor?

author: River2027

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Terminator

setting: after "goodbye to all that"

genre: romance/humor

rating: T

warning: contains spoilers for "allison from palmdale", "goodbye to all that" and of course "romeo and juliet"

summary: John is forced to enter his school's production of Romeo and Juliet. To his dismay, Cameron spontaneously enrolls in John's school under the alias Cameron Phillips and is understudy for the role of Juliet, who is being played by Riley. John/Cameron

_**What's In a Name?**_

John was sitting in his English class for the first time in…well…a long time. His English teacher Ms. Darbus was lecturing about some play that the class was supposed to put on. Some kind of drama, skit thing.

Whatever.

John wasn't paying attention. His mind was on more important things, like the list of names written in blood in his basement, what Martin Bedelli was doing at this moment, or if Cameron had located Cromartie yet. So he was entirely unprepared to see Cameron enter the English classroom. His teacher looked up at his Terminator protector.

"Ah, here's the new student," Ms. Darbus said cheerfully. "What's your name?"

"Cameron Phillips," came the reply. John frowned. _Phillips_? Why had she reverted to Phillips? She was supposed to be his sister! Cameron Baum!

Riley must have thinking along the same lines. She shot him a confused look, and John wanted to disappear. How was he going to explain this? Why was Cameron here now? Did his mother even know she was here?

Cameron took the empty seat behind John, and he suddenly found it very hard to concentrate.

"Mr. Baum," Ms. Darbus said, startling him from his thoughts. "May I see you after class?"

John nodded slowly, ignoring the snickers of his fellow classmates who assumed he was in trouble.

*******

"Mr. Baum," Ms. Darbus said slowly, tapping her pencil on the table in a way that John found very irritating. "You must think that English is not important. This is the first time you've attended my class in two weeks."

_That long, huh? _John looked at the floor. "I'm sorry, I…"

"No excuses," Ms. Darbus cut him off. "Since you believe there's no value in my class, I have decided that instead of detention, I will punish you in a different way. We are having a school drama coming up, _Romeo and Juliet, _which we are studying. You would know that if you came to class."

John shifted nervously as she glared at him. "Since you don't," she continued. "I have assigned you the lead role in this play. You _must _come to class and rehearsals or else you _will _fail my class. Mr. Baum, this is your last chance to redeem yourself."

John groaned inwardly. "Who's Juliet?"

Ms. Darbus looked at her attendance sheet. "I was thinking I might assign that role to your class-skipping buddy Riley. Or maybe the new girl, Ms. Phillips. She could use something to make her feel more welcome. A starring role should do that…and she's certainly a good choice for the role of Juliet."

John bit his lip. If there was one thing Cameron could not do, it was act. Acting required facial expressions which wasn't one of her strong points. Hearing her alias also reminded him that still needed to talk to her about the whole "Phillips" last name thing. Riley was certainly going to have questions.

Ms. Darbus was waiting for his consent. John sighed. It wasn't like he couldn't afford to fail English. But he could hardly see his mother consenting…even if the world was ending in a few years.

"Fine," John said reluctantly. "I'll be in your play."

***********

Riley cornered him when he left the English classroom.

"Dude, what's with you?" she demanded.

"I got forced into the school play," John said, hoping she wouldn't bring up Cameron. "It was either that or fail the class since I don't attend it anyway."

"I meant about your sister," Riley corrected.

John opened his mouth to speak, but he saw Cameron walking over out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not his sister," she stated.

Both Riley and John stared at her in confusion, though John's glare held a little more anger. Riley looked to John. "But I thought you said…"

"I am staying with the Baums," Cameron said. "But I'm not his sister. I have no family. His mother took me in."

Riley looked surprised. "What happened to your family?"

"My father was an architect and my mother was a dancer," Cameron said. "They were both killed."

"I'm sorry," Riley said. She leaned in towards John. "I should've known. You two don't really look alike."

John shrugged, feeling uneasy with the way Cameron was now staring down Riley. "Hey, uh, Cam, why don't you go find out where your locker is?"

"My locker is number 285," Cameron stated. "It's down the hall on the left side, fifteenth in the row. Combination 5-16-7."

John gritted his teeth. "Well why don't you go put your English book away?"

He didn't know if she got the hint, but she did nod and turn to walk towards the lockers. John let out a breath. Now would come the questions...

"That's not weird for you?" Riley asked. "Having some strange girl live in your house?"

_How do I explain this? _"She's not a strange girl," John admitted. He frowned, realizing that wasn't exactly true. "Well, I mean, she's not a strang_er_. I've known her for a long time. We were, um, neighbors. That's how she knew my family."

Riley hesitated. "What's wrong with her? I mean, does she have some kind of mental illness?"

"Oh," John said, racking his brain for a plausible explanation for Cameron's odd behavior. "Not really. She was one of the smartest kids in her class, so the government…abducted her and ran tests…did things with her brain….they, uh, kind of…programmed her…to be a living weapon…"

Riley looked confused. "What?"

"Yeah, so she's mentally traumatized," John adlibbed. "And some times she gets into these weird mood swings…and she can get violent. So don't be alarmed if you ever see that."

"How'd she escape from the government?"

"What?" John asked.

"The government who experimented with her brain," Riley said. "How'd she escape?"

"Oh," John said. "My mom broke her out."

"What?!"

"Yeah, she infiltrated their headquarters and managed to escape with Cameron," John said.

"Wow! Your mom is hardcore, dude."

"Yeah, she's really...tough," John agreed.

"So, is she alright? Your sister, I mean," Riley said.

"Oh, yeah, she'll be fine," John assured her. "Just…if she seems quirky…don't think anything of it. She might start talking about…you know…the end of the world or things like that…and she gets confused occasionally…with her name. One time she told me her name was Allison Young and another time she said it was River…"

John stopped before he got to rambling again. Riley raised her eyebrows. "Thanks for the heads up." She glanced at the clock. "Whoa, time for class. I'll see you around."

"Yeah," John muttered. He kept on a smile until Riley disappeared, then slammed his fist against the wall. "Gah! I sounded like a bumbling idiot!"

He looked around.

Where the heck was Cameron?

******

John found Cameron coming out of the girl's restroom. He stormed up to her, grabbed her wrist and led her outside where no one could listen in. When they were finally alone, he turned to her angrily.

"Why did you say that?" he demanded.

Cameron looked puzzled. "What?"

"That, back there, in class!" John was practically shouting. "Why didn't you say you were Cameron _Baum_?"

"I don't know," Cameron replied calmly.

"If this is more of this 'Allison from Palmdale' crap, it needs to stop," John ordered. "Just how many aliases do you have? When we first met, you said your father sold tractors and your mom stayed home. Now, he's suddenly an architect? And your mom's a dancer? Where does that come from? You didn't even answer Riley's question as to how they died!"

Cameron turned to him sharply. "They died during Judgment Day. Everyone did." She turned back and continued walking.

John narrowed his eyebrows. "Who did? Cause they're not your parents. You weren't born, remember? You were built. You don't have a father or mother."

"They're Allison's parents," Cameron replied.

"Again with Allison," John muttered. "Listen. You're not Allison. You're not Cameron Baum. And you're not Cameron Phillips either. Cameron Phillips died the day Cromartie came to my school!"

He paused, fuming. Cameron had stopped momentarily, and she wouldn't look at him.

"Cameron Phillips was killed by Cromartie," he added furiously. "She was shot twice in the chest. You...You're a machine!" he spat.

Cameron still remained emotionless, though John could tell he had hurt her. Her pace quickened and she would not look at him. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.

All this because of a name? What's in a name? That was one of Juliet's line, he recalled. _That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. _Why had he blown up? Yes, her new identity caused problems for him and Riley. Another girl lived at his house and she's not his sister. Yeah, definitely problematic.

_You're not Allison, you're not from Palmdale, you're from the future! You're a machine! _

How can a machine feel hurt?

_author's note: This is my first multi-chapter fanfic. It gets better, more John/Cameron in the next chapters. And thanks to everyone who reviewed my other stories; I'm glad you liked it. _


	2. Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo

_Author's note: Thanks for everyone who's reviewed chapter one. Your comments are greatly appreciated. _

_Metroid13: Thanks for taking time to read and critique. I go to a small school, and we don't have a specified "drama" department, so we do things through the English class. Sorry if it confused you. And the Firefly reference was just supposed to be for humor._

_LittleAlbatross: Love your pen name. Sorry, no singing or dancing in this chapter, though I'm glad you got the HSM reference. :)_

_ThanosofTitan: Cameron isn't a normal highschooler, and I'm pretty sure she hasn't had any experience with locker thieves. Besides, the only people she told the combination to were John and Riley._

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Terminator.**

_**Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?**_

John sat at his desk, arms crossed, as Ms. Darbus began to list the cast for _Romeo and Juliet. _"Romeo will be played by John Baum," she recited, "with Jason Reynolds as his understudy. Juliet will be played by Ms. Riley, with Ms. Phillips as the understudy…"

John didn't hear anything else. He was going to be Romeo, with Riley as his Juliet. He couldn't gauge Cameron's reaction.

Ms. Darbus walked up to John. "Now, I know you didn't want this role, and I've heard you have a very…overprotective mother."

John held back a laugh. "More like obsessive," he muttered.

"That being the case, I have decided that there will not be a kiss scene," Ms. Darbus said. Jason Reynolds overheard her.

"What?" he demanded. "But it's Romeo and Juliet. Where's the fun in that?"

"We will be having a fake kiss," Ms. Darbus stated calmly. John raised an eyebrow. What was that supposed to mean?

"We will have Romeo and Juliet positioned so that the audience will not be able to tell they are faking," Ms. Darbus said. "I don't want any issues with parents." She glanced over at John. "Especially not yours. Now, rehearsals will be after school Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Your scripts will be waiting for you then."

**********

"You're in a what?!" Sarah demanded.

"A play," John repeated. "_Romeo and Juliet_." He saw Derek roll his eyes. "I had to!" he protested. "It's either this or I fail English. Your choice."

"It's not like he needs English," Derek pointed out. "What with the world ending and all that."

John nodded emphatically. "See, that's exactly what I thought!"

"Derek, shut up," Sarah ordered. "As long as he can, I want John to have a normal life. If that includes school…and plays…so be it."

Derek rolled his eyes once more. "So who's Juliet?"

"Riley," John said.

Derek smirked and Sarah frowned disapprovingly.

"Don't worry," John said, trying to placate his mother. "There won't even be a kissing scene."

"But it's _Romeo and Juliet_," Derek said. "Even I know what that is. It's a love story. With lots of death."

"Sounds like your kind of play," Sarah muttered.

Derek shrugged, not bothering to deny it.

"It'll still _look _like a kiss," John explained. "But we're going to be angled so you can't tell. Don't worry." He hesitated. "And don't, like, jump up on stage at any time, especially when I'm fake sword fighting." He directed the comment at Derek.

Derek scowled and glanced at Cameron. "Is tin miss in the play, too?"

"I'm Juliet's understudy," Cameron stated bluntly.

"Great," Derek muttered to John. "You better hope Riley doesn't get sick…or miss emotional will ruin your little play."

Cameron cocked her head to the side, detecting his sarcasm. "I am capable of producing emotions."

"A metal Juliet," Derek smirked. "Yeah, I'd like to see that."

**********

A few weeks had passed, and John was still trying to learn his lines. It was times like these where he envied Cameron. She's read the script through once, and recited the entire thing back to him word for word.

_Machines, _he thought with a sigh. _Can't live with them. Can't live without them. Though I could certainly do without Cromartie…_

Cameron was simply watching him as he read over Romeo's dying lines.

"I think I would be a more believable Juliet than Riley," she said.

John sighed, slapping the script down onto the table. "How is that?"

"I would be able to actually stab myself with the dagger," she replied.

"Yes, but you can't do that," John tried to explain patiently. "People would freak out and you'd blow our cover. That kind of wound kills normal people. In case you haven't read that far, Juliet does _die."_

"I know all about _Romeo and Juliet_," Cameron replied. "I can recite the entire play from my memory bank."

"Yeah, I know," John mumbled. "Fine, how about you practice Juliet's final lines. In case Riley actually _does _get sick."

Cameron launched into a remarkably well spoken performance, "O happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust and let me die!"

John was taken by surprise at the emotion she had projected into the lines. "That was…actually really good." Maybe a metal Juliet wouldn't be so bad after all...

"I told you," Cameron said bluntly.

John felt inclined to agree.

*********

During rehearsal the next week, Riley studied the dress she was going to be wearing as Juliet. Next to her, Jessica Duncan was modeling her "Lady Capulet" attire.

"So what's with the fake kiss?" Jessica asked, adjusting her hair in the mirror.

"Ms. Darbus doesn't want any issues," Riley said, rolling her eyes. "We're supposed to be positioned so that John's back is to the audience and they won't be able to tell the difference."

"Why should it matter if you kiss?" Jessica questioned. "You and John are practically dating anyway."

"We would be if not for his psycho-adopted sister and control-freak mother," Riley replied with a scowl.

"You could totally switch it onstage," Jessica advised with a conspiratorial grin. "Just position yourself so he has to turn sideways to the audience. Then you'll have to kiss to make it look realistic."

Riley smiled thoughtfully. "That would definitely make this whole drama more interesting. I mean, what's Romeo and Juliet without the kiss?"

"Besides," Jessica added. "John's really cute and this is a great way to get to him without his weirdo family."

Riley nodded and smiled. "That's not a bad idea."

She didn't see Cameron Phillips listening in from outside the door.

********

When the night of the performance arrived, Cameron was putting on Juliet's costume as Riley entered the dressing room. "What are you doing?" she asked. "I'm here; you didn't need to get in your costume."

Cameron didn't respond until she had finished adjusting the dress. "Ms. Darbus wants you to go get the retractable dagger from the props closet," she stated.

Riley frowned. "She didn't grab it already?"

"No," Cameron said. "I was supposed to tell you earlier."

Riley scowled. She was beginning to realize just how much damage those brain experiments had done to John's "adopted" sister.

Finally she sighed. "Fine. I'll go get it, though I don't see why you couldn't have. You aren't even performing tonight…"

Cameron silently followed Riley to the props closet, making sure that the other girl did not hear her. When Riley entered, Cameron quickly closed the door and locked it, wedging a chair under the handle just in case Riley was stronger than she looked.

Cameron allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction and pulled out the retractable dagger from where it had been hidden in her sleeve. She heard Riley's protests from inside the closet and ignored them.

Juliet was needed on the set.

_author's note: This chapter is more of an leading up to the actual drama, which is in the next chapter. Don't worry, there's more John/Cam coming. _


	3. There Rust and Let Me Die

_author's note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter two. Everyone seemed to like Riley getting locked in the closet (and I so enjoyed writing it) :)_

_LittleAlbatross: I'm glad you liked it. I was actually worried that it wouldn't come out as good as the first, but apparently it did. I guess it's true what they say about being your own worst critic._

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Terminator.**

_**There Rust and Let Me Die**_

"Where's Riley?" Ms. Darbus demanded. "I thought she was here already…"

"Did she get sick?" someone asked.

"Cameron!" Ms. Darbus shouted. John saw Cameron appear immediately, already decked out in Juliet's dress. "Riley's missing," Ms. Darbus said. "You're going to have to be Juliet."

John thought he saw a bit of pride in Cameron's smile. _Crap_, he thought. _I bet she did something to Rile_y.

Before he could confront her about it, Jason Reynolds came up behind him and handed him Romeo's sword. "Break a leg," he said with a broad grin.

Cameron suddenly appeared out of nowhere, glaring at Jason. "Are you threatening John?"

Jason looked more confused than afraid. "No…"

Cameron continued staring at him and Jason swallowed nervously.

John sighed. "In theater, 'break a leg' means good luck," he explained.

Cameron cocked her head. "That's impractical. If you were to break your leg, you would not be able to perform. Therefore it would not be 'lucky'."

Before John could reply, Ms. Darbus ushered him out onto the stage.

When the time finally came for the big party where Romeo meets Juliet, John was feeling a little nervous. He hadn't thought about the fact that he was going to have to fake a kiss with _Cameron._ His mom and Derek were going to kill him.

As he recited Romeo's lines, he noticed where Cameron was standing.

_She's positioned wrong!_ he thought frantically. This wasn't right. She was supposed to be standing in _front_ of him, so he could stand with his back to the audience for the fake kiss. Maybe she hadn't gotten all the movements down, being the understudy after all, but…

It was still wrong. He couldn't do that fake kiss. In order for this to look right, he had to..._truly...__kiss..._Cameron. He tried not to wince. Derek's gonna murder me…

He stepped forward and put his hand up against her face. They were in full view of the audience and in his peripheral vision he could see Derek and his mother sitting in the middle row of the auditorium.

But as he looked back at Cameron and all other thoughts left his mind. He closed his eyes and kissed her…felt her respond…and heard a cry of horror that sounded strangely like Derek.

His uncle had risen from his seat, face aghast with absolute revulsion. People around him were staring at him in astonishment and he forced a smile, trying to come up with a plausible excuse. "It's just…I know how it ends and they're making a mistake," he said lamely. "Sorry…"

He took his seat next to Sarah, who seemed to be containing her shock better than he had. "She could be giving him the kiss of death!"

"Kiss of death?" Sarah repeated.

"Yeah, the goodnight kiss, or whatever it's called! Poison on the lips!" he exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"If she wanted to kill him, she wouldn't have to kiss him to do it," Sarah explained.

Derek shuddered as he watched his nephew…who actually looked as if he had _enjoyed _it. Enjoyed sharing a kiss with that…that _metal _piece of scrap!

John was feeling a little lightheaded after the kiss and almost forgot his next lines. All he could think of was how glad he was that Riley had mysteriously disappeared ten minutes before showtime…

Cameron did incredible for the rest of the drama. She had everyone fooled…everyone except Sarah and Derek, of course. When the time came for the dramatic death scenes, John took a deep breath before running onto the stage, supposedly entering the tomb where Juliet was buried.

John approached Cameron's completely still form. Boy, she was good at this. It reminded him too much of the day he'd almost burned her. The day he'd taken a stand against his mother, against the wise thing to do. He didn't have to try hard to show his emotion.

He crouched by "Juliet's" final resting place and pulled out the vial of poison.

As he stared into her incredibly still face, he decided to improvise. Their script didn't call for another kiss, even though Shakespere intended there to be one. He remembered Cameron's words about being "believable." He drank the green water from the vial and pretended to choke.

"Thus with a kiss…" he whispered, leaning over and kissing Cameron's lips. He could have sworn he heard a sharp intake of breath in the audience, probably from Derek again. "…I die…" John let himself go limp and collapsed on the stage. He remained completely still, listening to the rest of the scene play out. He heard the Friar come down, heard Cameron wake up and ask for Romeo.

He heard the Friar retreating and felt Cameron kneel beside him. As she began her own final monologue, he heard the _emotion. _It was the same despair he'd heard in her voice when she was pinned between the two trucks, pleading for him to let her stay. He fought to keep a straight face. Romeo was supposed to be dead after all.

He suddenly felt her lips on his. She was improvising too, reciting her line about no poison being left for her on his lips. He felt her slip the retractable dagger from his belt and heard her say her final line.

"O, happy dagger! This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die!" He almost smiled. She was brilliant. He heard a gasp from some younger audience members as Cameron plunged the retractable dagger into her chest. She fell to the ground next to him and he heard a shout of victory in the unmistakable voice of his Terminator-phobic uncle.

Several audience members shushed him angrily. John relaxed as he and Cameron lay side by side on the platform as the Capulets and Montagues learned of their children's death and ended their feud.

Finally the audience stood and cheered and John stood up, holding out a hand to Cameron even though he knew she hadn't needed his assistance.

The applause was still continuing when John ended up backstage. Ms. Darbus was staring at him strangely.

"You were wonderful!" she exclaimed. "That was the most moving performance of Romeo and Juliet I've ever seen by students!"

"Uh, thanks," John said.

"You were so emotional," she continued. "Have you thought of a career in acting? The way you can project your emotions…superb!"

"Thanks," John said again, feeling a bit embarrassed. Jason, Romeo's understudy, came up and clapped John on the back.

"You did great, pal," he said. "Excellent performance. You looked like you were really in love with her!"

As Jason walked away, his words resonated with John. "I think I am…" he said in wonderment.

***********

"What was that?!" Derek shouted on the way home. "You…you…just…"

"It was just acting," John said with a scowl, staring out the window.

"You…_kissed _it! The Metal! Three times!"

"Reese," Sarah said sternly. "That's enough. He and Cameron did a great job in that play."

"Oh, he and _Cameron _did great," Derek grumbled to himself. "It's not a person…shouldn't have a name…"

John looked over at Cameron, smirking. "Just how _did_ Riley end up trapped in the supply closet?"

"I locked her in," Cameron said simply.

John raised his eyebrows. He had suspected as much, but hadn't expected her to come out and admit it. "You did? Why?"

"Derek said he wanted to see a metal Juliet."

_finis_

_author's note: Well, it's finished. I hope you guys like it. Based on how you all review, I may do a sequel. I kind of have an idea already. Anyways, let me know what you think! And check out some of my other stories, too. I'd love to hear your opinions._

_Oh yeah, and enjoy episode 7 tonight!_


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